More on Charlie Zirkelback

The 2006 John F.D. Peterson Award goes to Mr. C.E. (Charlie) Zirkelback. Charlie is a Corporate Fellow Emeritus with Union Carbide Corporation, he received his BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Mississippi State University, and his Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Houston. He is a registered Professional Engineer, a past member of ASME, and is a member of Tau Beta Pi and Pi Tau Sigma.

Charlie joined Union Carbide Corporation in 1966, retiring from UCC in 2003. His expertise is in maintenance and performance of rotating machinery, specifically in: specification, evaluation, installation, preventive/predictive maintenance, protective monitoring, failure analysis, trouble shooting, repair, and remedial design. He has authored several papers and has contributed to discussions in these areas. His work focused on improving: on steam time, reliability, safety, efficiency and production capacity at UCC operations world-wide.

Charlie was a member of the IGTI , Industrial and Cogeneration Committee from about 1980 (it was then known as the Process Industries Committee) to 2003. He has written and presented ASME papers, has served in “round table” discussions, and has reviewed numerous ASME papers over the years. He also coauthored a chapter in “Sawyer’s Gas Turbine Handbook”, on Monitoring and Control. He has been active in GTUA and the Frame 6 User’s Group.

He is presently President of “Z – MechTech, Inc”, a one man organization, dealing with Rotating and Recip Machinery technical problems, on a Consulting basis. He has served as City Councilman, in Port Lavaca for 14 years (8 of those years as Mayor Pro-Tem) and with other civic groups such as Chamber of Commerce and Lions club. Married 40 years to wife Maria (a High School Spanish Teacher), they have two Daughters, Anne Marie Odefey, an Attorney and partner in the Law Firm of Roberts, Roberts, and Odefey; and Dr. Nicole Martin, Aeronautical Engineer with Lockheed Martin.